Demographic Factors Associated with Adhesive Capsulitis

Adhesive capsulitis is commonly observed in patients during their fifth and sixth decades of life with an incidence of 2% to 5% in this age group, and a greater frequency in women than men. There is an increased occurrence in patients having suffered closed head injuries (as high as 25%), Parkinson disease (13%), autonomic disorders of the upper extremity (such as post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome with an incidence of approximately 25%), and diabetes mellitus (with an incidence varying from 10% to 35%) . Prior authors have suggested an association between adhesive capsulitis and other medical disorders including thyroid disease, cardio-pulmonary disease, cervical spine degenerative disease, neoplasia in general (and more specifically in the lung), and the presence of personality disorders such as depression and anxiety disorder; however, no causal relationship has been clearly established for these entities.